Great Scot September 2019 Great Scot 157_September 2019_ONLINE | Page 69

OSCA
OSCA’s three-part
engagement strategy
Reasons to connect, ways to connect, opportunities to give back
MR JAMES DOUGLAS ('84)
OSCA PRESIDENT
OSCA’s engagement strategy is a simple one – to
‘promote the advancement and welfare of Scotch College
and its Old Boys’. The Association strives to do this in
three ways: we provide reasons to connect; we provide
ways to connect; and we provide opportunities to
give back.
In this context I had the privilege of attending the
Scotch Foundation President’s Dinner and launch of the
General Sir John Monash Scholarship on the evening of 7
August. We celebrated the life of Sir John Monash (1881),
and his contribution to Scotch College and to Australia.
Monash was a great Australian – perhaps the greatest of
all – and, in the words of our Principal, is our greatest Old
Boy … so far. As the School Captain, Nick Marks, said
in a video shown at the dinner: ‘Please help us create
a lasting ode to our most exceptional Scotchie – and
perhaps help us find the next one’.
Monash’s life was one of service to Australia, and
the next 12 months are important reminders of his
contribution to Australia and to Scotch College, as we
mark the 101st anniversary of the start of the Battle of
Amiens, a successful Allied offensive which helped to
bring World War I to a close. Monash’s role in the success
of the campaign was critical.
At the dinner, the excellent account of Monash’s life
delivered by Scotch’s Head of History, Dr Mark Johnston,
strongly reinforced in my mind the value of service and
the importance of ensuring our history remains alive and
culturally relevant today.
Service – it’s the common thread that runs through
OSCA’s mission and the three pillars of our strategy. I
have talked a lot about the importance of the informal
stories of connectivity in the Scotch Family, and these go
to maintaining our sense of shared history and purpose.
While OSCA celebrates the great service of Sir John
Monash, it’s equally important to remember and celebrate
all those who are involved in serving the Scotch Family
and the broader community, no matter the level of their
involvement.
I’m speaking of those who undertake the less visible
but incredibly important roles and tasks – for example,
the club secretaries and treasurers, the parents serving
breakfast to the rowers, and the many others involved in
service of many kinds across the wide spectrum of our
community.
Our focus for this year’s OSCA Presidents’ Dinner on
20 November is ‘service and history’, and as part of this
we will celebrate all of those who are deeply engaged in
serving our community.
The other part of our theme, history, links strongly to
the theme of service. The contribution of General Sir John
Monash, and indeed everyone who has contributed to
our School and to our community, are only remembered
through our collective history and by those who record
our history.
Many of you will have seen that work is under way
on the Archives Museum and OSCA House project. We
are excited about this development, not only because
the OSCA community will have a real home for the first
time in our history, but also because it will enable our
history to be properly preserved and maintained. Scotch
Archivist Paul Mishura, his predecessors, and a large and
dedicated group of volunteers have been extraordinary
custodians of our history. The new OSCA House will be
a place that can showcase this and remind us of the
contributions to OSCA by so many people over more than
a century since OSCA was launched in 1913.
Old Boys – particularly younger Old Boys – have told
us they want OSCA to look at ways to make the third pillar
of our strategy, opportunities to give back, real. We are
thinking a great deal about how we can do this, and I am
hopeful we will be able to announce some initiatives in
2020 toward this objective, building on our theme
of service.
This year we have undertaken a review of the OSCA
constitution. It is perhaps a less exciting part of our
history, but an important one. The proposed amendments
will modernise our constitution, while retaining the core
principles and purpose of the current one. The updated
constitution will be put to members at the OSCA annual
general meeting, which will precede the Presidents’
Dinner in November.
OSCA thanks everyone who has contributed so much
to Scotch, enabling us to sing, ‘There’s no other school,
we swear that can with “the Scotch” compare’. Finally,
please don’t just talk about how you are engaging with
others – let’s make sure the contribution of all our Scotch
Family to the life of the School and the wider community is
remembered and appropriately recognised.
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
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